JP2004-357474A (which will be hereinafter referred to as Reference 1) discloses an outdoor power conditioner including a housing in which an air intake port (an outside air intake port), a ventilation fan, and an air exhaust passage are integrally formed. The air exhaust passage has an inclination allowing rainwater to be discharged to an outside of the power conditioner. The intake port is formed at a bottom surface of the housing so as to face a ground plane. JP2008-108451A (which will be hereinafter referred to as Reference 2) discloses a fuel cell case including an inner wall body that accommodates a fuel cell and an outer wall body that surrounds the inner wall body. An exterior opening portion formed at the outer wall body, and a connection portion provided between the outer wall body and the inner wall body and formed at the inner wall body are positioned differently from each other in a vertical direction to thereby restrain the rainwater from entering the case. JP2009-76286A (which will be hereinafter referred to as Reference 3) discloses a fuel cell system including an air intake port (an outside air intake port) provided at a ceiling surface of a package of the fuel cell system. An exhaust heat from the system warms the ceiling surface of the package to thereby restrain a decrease of an air intake level of the system caused by a snow accumulation.
According to the power conditioner disclosed in Reference 1, because the air intake port opens at the bottom surface of the housing, rainwater may enter the housing through an air exhaust port formed at a side surface of the housing. In addition, the power conditioner disclosed in Reference 1 does not include a means to prevent an intrusion of snow such as powder snow into the housing. Further, the air intake port through which an outside air is taken in is formed at the bottom surface of the housing. Thus, depending on an installation condition of a package unit of the power conditioner installed outside, the air intake port may be closed or covered by accumulating snow. According to the fuel cell case disclosed in Reference 2, an outside air intake port is arranged at a lower portion of a side wall of the case. Therefore, in the same way as the power conditioner disclosed in Reference 1, the outside air intake port may be closed or covered by the accumulating snow. According to the fuel cell system disclosed in Reference 3, because the air intake port is formed at the ceiling surface of the package, melting of snow may be expected at the ceiling surface. However, the fuel cell system does not include a means to prevent an intrusion of snow during a storm from sides of the system. A structure to eliminate the snow entering the air intake port is not provided at the fuel cell system.
Consequently, according to References 1 to 3, a prevention structure preventing an intrusion of snow such as powder snow from the outside air intake port to the housing is not sufficiently effective.
A need thus exists for an outdoor power generating apparatus which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.